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Boulder's Caffeine Fix MapLet's face it, Boulderites need their caffeine fix. Here's a map for local and visitors alike to discover some of the city's (and surrounding town's) best places to find a good cup of java.

February 18, 2007

Banning free speech in MyFace should go up in smoke

This is one of those only-in-Boulder stories.

This week Boulder city fathers will debate whether to muzzle city officials from what they can say or not say online, in forums like MySpace and I presume their online blogs. It's a waste of time for the council to take this on, but apparently they've not read the First Amendment lately.

It all started whenRob Smoke -- yes his name is Smoke -- posted in MySpace, saying "Im tired, I'm hungry, I'm horny, I'm stoned ... and I am a city official." Smoke serves on the city's Human Relations Commission.

This all comes at a time when the same council is trying to figure out what to do with fellow city councilman Richard Polk, who was picked up by police for erratic driving and caught with a pipe and a small baggie of pot. He eventually entered a guilty plea to reckless driving.

Smoke, who at one time worked for radio station KGNU, used to be part of a media panel with me on a now defunct local show called Boulder TV, and we were generally amused by where Smoke would sometimes take the on-air discussion. Of course none of us would have ever been on the show if the producers had handed us a piece of paper telling us what we could or could not say.

Let's go over that First Amendment wording one more time: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech ..."

OK, now I get it. Congress is clearly not Boulder City Council. City council would be wise to pass on the effort by Deputy Mayor Suzy Ageton and City Councilwoman Robin Bohannan to create rules preventing our freedom of speech. Smoke's comments did absolutely no harm to anyone except perhaps the public's perception of him.

Any rules to stiffle what a person can say or not say in a public forum like MySpace -- if challenged in court -- would probably only cost the city more money to defend their losing cause.